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Omikuji Basic Terms of Shinto, Kokugakuin University, Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics, Tokyo 1984 are random Prophecy written on strips of paper at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan. Literally "sacred Cleromancy", these are usually received by making a small offering and randomly choosing one from a box, hoping for the resulting fortune to be good. , vending machines sometimes dispense .
The predicts the person's chances of their hopes coming true, of finding a good match, or generally matters of health, fortune, life, etc. When the prediction is bad, it is a custom to fold up the strip of paper and attach it to a pine tree or a wall of metal wires alongside other bad fortunes in the temple or shrine grounds. A purported reason for this custom is a pun on the word for matsu and the verb matsu, the idea being that the bad luck will wait by the tree rather than attach itself to the bearer. In the event of the fortune being good, the bearer has two options: they can also tie it to the tree or wires so that the fortune has a greater effect or they can keep it for luck. are available at many shrines and temples, and remain one of the traditional activities related to shrine or temple-going.
A similar custom of writing a prayer on a specially-prepared wooden block called an , which is then tied to an ad hoc scaffold, also exists.
Historically, however, the Japanese system is thought to have been modeled after the Chinese , a similar form of divination involving a tube full of bamboo sticks and a sequence of written or printed oracles. A wooden container containing oracular lots dated 1409 (Ōei 16) is preserved in Tendai-ji in Iwate Prefecture, suggesting that this method of fortune telling was imported to Japan somewhere before the Muromachi period (1336–1573). The quatrains of the are themselves ultimately based on a set of oracles dating from the Southern Song period (1127-1279) known as the (天竺靈籤, ; Japanese: ).
The became popular in the Edo period due to the notable monk Tenkai (1536–1643), who is credited with attaching Ryōgen's name to it. A story related by one of Tenkai's disciples claims that Tenkai was once visited in a dream by Ryōgen, who revealed to him the existence of the 100 quatrains, which had been supposedly lost for centuries. Copies of these short poems were eventually discovered at Togakushi Shrine in Shinano Province (modern Nagano Prefecture) and widely disseminated. The eventually became standard across many Buddhist temples (even those not affiliated with the Tendai school) and served as a model for other sequences. Various books explaining the meaning of the oracles were published during the period, suggesting their widespread popularity.
Other sequences may include additional degrees such as chū-kichi, dai-kyō, or i.e. one's fortune could end up being either good or bad depending on one's actions.
It then lists fortunes regarding specific aspects of one's life, which may include any number of the following among other possible combinations:
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